Protect Me While I Sleep
by Caitlinlaurie
Summary: The years have passed and the Justice League has fallen apart. Oliver carries the guilt of this. But when one member is given a second chance at life will Oliver get the ending he deserves? Chlollie, hints of Chlark ON HIATUS!
1. Chapter 1

Title: Protect Me While I Sleep

Pairings/ Characters: Chlollie, hints of Chlark. Apearances by members of the Justice League

Warnings: Dark Theme as well as Character Deaths. Eventually some sexual themes.

Summary: Years have passed and the Justice League has fallen apart with the deaths of certain members. Oliver carries the guilt of this. But when one member is given a second chance at life, will he finally get the ending he deserves?

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the universe, I am just borrowing them for fun.

A/N: These are the characters from Smallville, not the comics. I do not read the comics so all errors are intentional.

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_Fear not death, for the sooner we die the longer we shall be immortal_ --Benjamin Franklin

Chapter 1

Night had come to Star City. The street lamps were slowly coming on, emitting a soft glow which lightened the starkness of the cold, empty streets. The rain clouds which had been threatening over head all day had moved back, but still lined the city as if in an ominous warning. They would return, he knew, bringing with them the first storm of the fall season. It was still early, there should be cars and people in the streets returning home from work or claiming a meal after a hard day. But the impending rain must have driven them inside tonight, for no one was on the streets of Star City.

Which was just as well considering the mood Oliver was in. He had no desire to dress in leather and rescue innocent people tonight. Not tonight of all nights.

He sat quietly in the empty command center on the back of his vast property. If he looked out the window he could see the mansion in distance, sitting proudly atop the hill like the crown jewel of the west. But he had no desire to be in there tonight. His butler and servants were in there, not having gone home yet. Oliver wanted to wait them out. Perhaps it was silly but he had never been able to get used to having a live-in staff. It made him feel restless and anxious when he was away to know that the servants could go any where they wanted in his parent's home. Ollie told himself that was the reason, but really it was because his parents never kept a live-in staff, wanting to be as normal as possible. Oliver had never been able to wrest himself away from that homey scene that played in his mind.

He had always wanted someone to come home to, someone to love, but one affair after another proved that dream was fruitless. He had simply never been able to meet a girl whom he could see himself spending the rest of his life with. Well, that wasn't true, but she was gone now and it ceased to matter anymore.

Oliver was only too content to let the loneliness consume him because tonight was a night he wanted to be alone.

Tonight he had an anniversary to remember.

Oliver stood and stretched, his back sore from having sat in the chair for too long. It was funny. He never used to feel all of these aches and pains, and when bad guys knocked him down he had gotten right back up, but things were different now. He had really begun to feel his age on his thirty-third birthday. It was as if his body had been waiting for that day and then just aged overnight.

But at least he was alive to feel the tension and the scrapes that came with being a hero. Others had not been so lucky.

Ollie looked over at the wall where a picture of the original team hung. The Justice League. Back when they had all been alive and whole. It had been taken just after Dinah had joined the team, following a rather successful mission in Metropolis. Clark had laughed and produced a camera. "Let's get a picture of everyone," He had said. He had grabbed Chloe around the waist and the rest of the group had squeezed in close. There they all were: Clark, Chloe, Bart, A.C., Victor, Dinah, and Oliver. All young and happy and feeling invincible, not knowing the future that awaited them.

Also on that wall were subsequent clippings from newspapers around the world which detailed, one at a time, the deaths of the members of the Justice League. There was Victor's clipping of how he had been incinerated in an explosion of a Luthercorp lab. Alongside that was the one of A.C. who had been dropped in a desert after being caught by the guards at the Mohave Desert Luthercorp compound. The accompanying article described his death through dehydration in agonizing detail. And then there was the clipping which always made him feel guilty, it was the one about how Bart had one of his legs amputated during a mission gone awry. Ollie blamed himself for that one greatly.

But his guilt over Bart did not even come close to his feelings over the last clipping which had actually occurred first. It was the one he could never bare to look at because it always filled him with a sense of sorrow. Because out of all of them, she had never been meant to die. Oliver looked over at the one clipping which always made him feel as though his heart was in his throat. It read, "Young Reporter Found Dead in the Streets of Metropolis." It went on to read about a mysterious death in which there was no sign of trauma or injury. To the outside world, Chloe Sullivan died of an unknown cause.

But Oliver knew the cause and so did Clark Kent.

After Chloe's death, the team had just seemed as though it was missing the heart which kept it together, which Oliver supposed, it was. None of them had really known how much Chloe contributed, but once she was gone there seemed to be a hole which ripped the team in two.

And then one by one his team had fallen apart. A.C. went first and then Victor, but each successive death had failed to teach them the lesson of their own mortality. They became careless, fighting with bravado and anger instead of a plan.

Oliver leaned back in his chair. He closed his eyes and remembered the night when Bart had lost his limb. They had both been so impetuous, thinking nothing of themselves but rather filled with rage over their fallen comrades. They weren't as brave when Oliver had to carry Bart out of the compound minus one leg.

It had always bothered Oliver that he, the one without superpowers, had survived without a scratch.

He sensed too that Bart would have preferred to die rather than be left with only one leg. His powers were useless now.

After Bart's injury, they had all begun to scatter to the winds. Bart had gone off to Mexico, finding a small surfing shop that he could run. Ollie had tried to stay in touch with him, but Bart seemed to want to forget that he had ever been part of something called the Justice League.

Clark had departed not long after Bart's accident, finally going up into his winter fortress to train. He had said there was nothing keeping him in Metropolis any longer. The light that used to fill his eyes when the word justice was mentioned had gone out all together.

Dinah had stayed the longest. She and Oliver had taken solace in each other for a time, but it didn't last. Neither of them wanted to remember all of them people they had lost. So one day Dinah had left, leaving only a note which contained a few sparse lines about not being a team player. Oliver heard of her in Gotham and Metropolis every now and then, but it was never enough to arouse more than a cursory interest.

She was part of the past now, and Oliver felt he was as well. He was just getting too old for this, and the spirit and devotion he once had had long since deserted him.

Lightening flashed outside, followed by thunder as the rain that had been threatening all day finally began to fall.

There was one more clipping on the wall, but it spoke not of a death but a homecoming. Oliver had clipped Lois's story about Clark's return and put it on the wall. Him accepting his destiny was probably the only good thing which came out all that death. When he had returned to Metropolis two years ago, Clark had begun to clean up the city that had needed him so badly. Superman's name was on everyone's lips and no ones more so than Lois's.

"I Spent the Night with Superman" the article was called. Ollie had called to tease her about it, but she insisted her editor had picked the title.

After Chloe died, Lois had done the opposite of what Ollie had expected. He thought she would hang up her reporting pass and run off to Europe with Lucy, but she didn't. Her devotion to reporting became a real, breathing thing and she had spent the last five years slowly working her way up the ladder at the Daily Planet. When Perry White took over the paper, he had made her a full-fledged reporter and when Clark returned he became one as well.

Lane and Kent, Ollie thought wryly. If anyone had told them they would become friends, let alone partners and lovers, they both would have denied it vehemently, but Chloe's death changed them both. Lois became softer and kinder. She directed her determination towards productive journalism, and no longer sought to simply thrill her readers.

Chloe would be proud.

And as for Clark, well, he was still the brooding hero he had always been. Except now behind every action, behind every rescue, behind every capture was a guilt that radiated through everything he did.

Ollie had gone to see him when he returned, but Clark had barely been able to look at him. His eyes had been empty and sad when he saw Ollie, and it was only after a long lunch that he was able to talk about Chloe. "I see her eyes in the faces of everyone I rescue," he had said. "They all are to help ease my debt."

"It wasn't your fault," Ollie had said. "She chose to make that sacrifice."

"Maybe it wasn't my fault that she made that choice, but it was sure as hell my fault that I was so reckless she even had a choice to make. I thought I was invincible, and lived accordingly. It is my fault she is gone."

No matter what Ollie had said that afternoon, nothing seemed to reach Clark. He wore his guilt over his heart, along with his Superman suit.

Ollie had since heard that Lois had helped to ease the pain they both felt. There was even rumored to be a wedding soon. Ollie just hoped Clark told her the truth. Life was far too short to spend it on lies and evasions.

Ollie leaned back in his chair, looking at the monitor which lined the far wall. He didn't really know what possessed him to come out here tonight, except for the fact that he had spent every anniversary of her death in this exact same spot, willing the monitors on the far wall to come to life.

The rain continued to fall outside, but there was silence in the command center. Silence, until it was broken.

The alarm was beeping.

Ollie shot out of his chair, rushing over to the monitor. He typed into the computer fiercely, wanting to see if it was a malfunction, but there was no mistake. And then his watch began to beep.

Ollie rushed from the room and was instantly soaked as he made his way down the steep hill towards the lake. He ran as fast as he could, while his watch continued to buzz but the sound was drowned out by the roaring of the wind. As he drew closer, the sepulcher rose out of the ground like a monument to death, which it was.

Ollie ran to the heavy iron door and ripped it open. It closed automatically behind him, but Ollie was only glad it was a barrier between him and the rain.

Now that he was inside, he slowed almost completely.

He waited, listening.

On the far wall were the plaques which all held the names of his ancestors. Ollie knew their remains were contained within the wall, but that was not his focus. He didn't even spare a glace for the plaques devoted to his parents, though no bodies rested behind them.

No, his gaze was focused on the coffin which had been sitting in the middle of the mausoleum.

He waited for some type of sound. And then he heard it. A thudding was coming from inside the coffin.

Ollie rushed over to the coffin and opened the lid of it with a hard yank.

The occupant of it sat up quickly, taking in deep breaths. The only sound in the cold mausoleum was the sound of her breathing.

Oliver stared at her, not willing to believe his eyes. All his years of wishing had finally come to fruition. And even this last year, when he had begun to give up hope, seemed to fade into the past as he stared at the woman sitting before him.

Her breathing finally settled as she looked over at Oliver. "Okay," She said with some humor, "So much worse to wake up in a coffin than a coroner's office, in case we were keeping track." She smiled at him, as if he should find the joke funny.

But Oliver could only stare as if he couldn't truly believe his eyes.

"Oliver? Earth to Oliver, you wanna help be get down out of this coffin?"

Oliver reached out a hand and helped her down. "Chloe?" He whispered, as if he could not believe his own eyes.

She smiled at him and pulled him into a hug. "I am sorry if I scared you. Clark acted shaky the first couple of times he saw me rise from the dead too."

Chloe looked around then, for the first time. She saw all the plaques on the wall and wondered what she was doing in what seemed to be the resting place of the Queen family. She looked up at Oliver and saw the way he was looking at her and began to grow uneasy.

"Oliver," She began, almost not wanting to know the answer to her own question. "Where are we? And where is everyone?"

Oliver looked down at her and bit his lip. He didn't even know where to begin. How do you tell someone that they have been dead for five years?

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_A/N: Please Review!!!_


	2. Chapter 2

_If man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live _—Martin Luther King Jr.

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Chapter 2

Oliver knew he should be trying to comfort Chloe, but he was just so shocked to see her acting as though no time had passed. He had seen her heal before and Clark had told him about her ability to resurrect from the dead, and that had been the one reason he always kept her close, but he had never knew it would be like this. One moment she was dead and the next moment she most certainly was not.

Chloe repeated her questions to the stunned Oliver. "Oliver," she said gently, "Where is everyone? Why am I in what looks to be your family's crypt?"

Oliver looked at her strangely. "What is the last thing you remember?"

Chloe frowned, trying to pull the memories from her mind. She sorted through the memories slowly, trying to remember what had led up to her dying again. Oh, she remembered that part perfectly. All ten agonizing minutes of it. But everything leading up to it was slightly blurry, though Chloe knew that was only a side effect of dying. Her mind always cleared in a few minutes.

"We were on a mission," Chloe said slowly. She shook her head. "Sorry, everything is always a little hazy when I first wake up." She shook her head again and said, "You, me and Clark were running." She looked up at Oliver in confusion. "Why were we running, Oliver?"

Oliver was silent, just looking at her and allowing her mind to work out the information.

"Clark was hurt, wasn't he? That's why I died. I died saving Clark," Chloe whispered.

* * *

_Five Years Earlier..._

_The mission had been a success. Chloe had gotten the information the needed and Clark and Oliver neutralized the targets. They were fleeing the premises when guards appeared out of nowhere. "Stop them!"_

_Clark was laughing at the guards._

_"I thought you took them out!" Oliver yelled._

_"Guess not," Clark yelled back with a laugh._

_They ran faster, and just as Clark was about to scoop up Oliver and Chloe and go into super speed, something hit him. He continued to run, but he didn't understand why his strength was lagging. Clark struggled to keep pace with Chloe and Oliver._

_Once they all escaped, Oliver had led them into a dark alley so they all could catch their breath._

_"Jeez, Boy Scout, what the hell? A little super assistance might have been called for back there. I know you don't like to hurt people, but couldn't you have blown them off course?" Oliver pulled back the hood of his uniform and took off the glasses. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. Oliver didn't mind the risks they took with their jobs, but he always got more nervous for the safety of his team when Chloe was around. He had no idea why._

_Clark glared at Oliver, rolling his shoulders trying to alleviate the pinching sensation._

_Chloe had her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "Yeah Clark, I think we should make exceptions for using our powers when we are running for our lives. I would have helped but I seem to be a healer not a fighter."_

_Oliver's lips quirked at Chloe's snark. "Hey, don't worry. It looks good on you."_

_"Oliver," Clark finally said. "Refrain from hitting on my girlfriend."_

_"Aww baby," Chloe said, "He didn't mean anything by it. Oliver just likes to puff out his chest like a peacock."_

_Oliver laughed. "You know, if I didn't have thicker skin I might be offended…" He trailed off as he looked over at Clark._

_Chloe saw where he was looking and her face began to immediately fill with concern. "Clark?"_

_All of the sudden, Clark fell to the dirty floor of the alley with a thud._

_Oliver and Chloe rushed over to his side. Chloe began to search his clothes for spots where he might have picked up a stray piece of kryptonite when her fingers found the wound in his back. Clark was moaning and twitching as she felt around._

_"What the hell?" She mumbled to herself. When she pulled her fingers back from the wound they were covered in blood and a green shimmering liquid._

_"It's liquid kryptonite!" Oliver swore._

_Chloe seemed to be focused on Clark. "It's okay, he has been exposed to it before; we just have to get it out of his system."_

_Oliver looked at Chloe in dread. "How do we do that?"_

_Just as she was about to answer, Clark ceased moaning and stilled._

_"Clark?!" Chloe asked in distress. "Talk to me! Clark!"_

_Oliver reached out and felt for a pulse. There was none. "Chloe…" he began._

_"Don't you dare say it," she snapped. "He isn't dead, and even if he is, I can fix this. Roll him over."_

_Oliver did as she asked, thinking she knew a way to excise his wound of the kryptonite. But it was too far gone for that. Oliver would always think in years to come that he should have known what she was about to do. That if he had known, he could have stopped her._

_Chloe reached out her glowing fingers and began to use her powers._

_It took ten minutes for the life force to leave Chloe and to be replaced in Clark. Oliver tried to pull her off of him many times, but he could not break the healing bond. He wanted to stop her, but it was too late. When she finished, her eyes fluttered shut and she collapsed on top of the man she loved._

* * *

Present Day... 

When Oliver finished speaking, Chloe nodded her head. "Yes, I remember that now. God, that was painful," She said with a laugh.

Oliver offered her a weak smile. In the dim light she couldn't see him very well, and she was beginning to become cold.

"I saved him though, right?"

"Huh?"

"Clark. I saved him, right?"

"Yeah," Ollie said, clearing his throat. "He's fine. You look cold."

"You're the one who is soaking wet," She shot back.

"Even so," he said. "Are you cold?"

Chloe nodded. "Can we get out of here?" She asked, looking at him imploringly.

He nodded his head back at her. "It's raining, so we are going to have to make a run for it."

"Okay."

Oliver took her hand and led her to the doorway. He opened the heavy door and pulled her out into the night. Together they ran up the hill to the small command center. By the time they reached it, Chloe was just as wet as Oliver and tired in an exhausted way. Oliver led her inside, and they both stood like frozen statues, dripping puddles in the middle of the room.

He led her to the bathroom, where he gave her sweatpants and a t-shirt. While she was in the bathroom, he changed himself and tried to control his breathing. He couldn't believe it. Miraculous could not even begin to describe this.

As he was towel drying his hair, she stepped back into the room. "I feel much better now," Chloe said with a grateful sigh. She settled into one of the chairs that faced the monitors and spun it around so she was looking at Oliver.

"So where are we, exactly?" Chloe asked with curiosity filling her voice.

"Queen Manor, Star City," was her answer, muffled by the towel.

"I was out a little longer this time, wasn't I?" Chloe murmured. "What, did you tell people I was on vacation? It's been a couple of days, hmmm?" At Oliver's blank look, Chloe began to get nervous. "Oliver, just how long have I been dead?"

Oliver didn't want to tell her this, he wished he could have been anywhere else, that anyone else would tell her, but he was the only one left to tell the tale. Oliver walked over to her and crouched down in front of her chair, bracing himself on her armrests. "It has been five years, Chloe." She stared at him blankly and he continued. "Five years tonight, to be exact."

Chloe said nothing, she just looked at him. Her right had reached up and Oliver was almost afraid she was going to hit him, but instead she ran her fingers over the plains of his face. "You're older," she whispered. "I don't know why I didn't see it before." Her fingers slowly pressed into the small creases that had appeared due to sorrow and worry. "You must be in your thirties now," She said.

"Thirty-three," he murmured. Oliver was confused by her lack of a reaction.

She stood, and stepped away from him crossing to the mirror on the far wall. "I look the same," she said, as if in disappointment. "I guess I didn't lose five years of my lifespan too."

She suddenly began to laugh. "Hell, it could have been worse. I could have done a full on Sleeping Beauty and woken a hundred years from now and everyone could have been gone. At least this way I get to be the young one of the group."

The laughter coming from her was not the type to be shared. It was, Oliver thought as he watched her shoulders shake with mirth, one of the saddest sounds he had ever heard before.

She finally stopped and squared her shoulders. "Where is everyone, Oliver?"

Her eyes met his, and he felt it would be abuse to tell her the truth.

"Where is the League?" She continued. "And where is Lois and…Clark?"

Oliver looked at her, not wanting to speak. He had forgotten the one thing that would be the hardest to tell her. How was he supposed to tell her that the man she loved was now with another?

* * *

_Five Years Earlier..._

_Chloe held Clark's hand as they sat on the beach at Crater Lake. Oliver, A.C., and Bart were all fooling around in the water, taking turns dunking each other. Dinah and Victor were sitting some distance away from Chloe and Clark, and speaking in hushed voices. Of all people to get together, those two had surprised her the most. Chloe watched Dinah and Victor with a small smile. She supposed you couldn't control who you fell in love with._

_"What are you thinking about?" Clark's voice pulled her from her reverie. "Plotting you next story on Luthercorp?"_

_"Not that it matters, Lex wouldn't print it," Chloe said with a smile._

_"That doesn't mean you shouldn't write it," Clark replied._

_Chloe smiled to herself, thinking back to the day she and Clark had finally gotten together. After seven years of going back and forth, Clark had finally ended things with Lana and ended up on her doorstep not long after. He had roses in his hands, and he had quietly asked her forgiveness for it taking him this long to ask her on a date. Since that day, two months before, they had been a couple. Everyone in the league had smiled and said "finally" when they told them; well, all except Oliver._

_His eyes had gotten dark, but then it was gone and a smile was pasted on his face. He had said congratulations and then excused himself. Chloe was still puzzled by his reaction but she pushed it from her mind as she had done ever since that day when she stopped to think about it._

_Chloe looked out into the water where Oliver was swimming. He had broken off from the group and was swimming on his back, just floating with the occasional movement to keep him above the water. As if he could sense her staring at him, Oliver suddenly became upright and looked in her direction. His frank gaze made Chloe uncomfortable. She never knew what he was thinking. He loved to flirt, but that never went below the surface of their friendship. But the way he stared at her sometimes made her wonder…_

_"Have I told you how lucky I am to have you as my girlfriend?" Clark asked, breaking into her thoughts._

_Chloe looked away from Oliver and smiled at Clark. "Only a hundred times, but tell me again in case I forgot."_

_Clark laughed and began to scatter kisses along her neck. "Oh so lucky," he whispered._

* * *

Present Day...

Chloe pulled herself from the past and looked at Oliver expecting answers.

He began somewhat unsteadily. "Chloe…a lot has happened over these past five years."

"I am sure of it," Chloe replied with a smirk, "But that doesn't answer my question. Where is the League Oliver?"

Oliver could say nothing, he merely gestured to the far wall. Chloe walked over and began to look at the articles one by one. They listed the death of her friends in agonizing detail. Chloe couldn't believe that the organization she had once believed in so dearly had become nothing more than a footnote in human history. "My God, Oliver," She said turning, "What the hell happened?"

He didn't answer and she turned back to the wall.

The one article that claimed the most of her attention was the one on her own death. "I was found in an alley?" She asked in shock. "Oliver, you need to tell me what happened, now!"

Oliver nodded and sat down in one of the high-backed black chairs. "It took a couple of moments for Clark to come to. God, those were the worst two minutes of my life. I thought you were both dead and I could do nothing to help either of you. I tried to lift you and Clark, but I couldn't. I tried to call in for back-up, but the line became jammed. And then, he woke."

Oliver's eyes got dark as he remembered that awful night which had taken place five years before, to the very hour. "We were about to move you when a cop came upon us. He thought we had killed you, and he chased us off before we could take you with us." Oliver shoved his had through his blond hair, rubbing back and forth in a quick motion. "We knew you would be dead in the eyes of the world, but we thought we could give you a new identity once you awoke. But you never did. Clark and I took your body from the coroner's office that very night, but it made it into the paper anyway. We couldn't tell Lois the truth; we didn't know how she would react. We were going to tell her once you woke up but…"

"But I never did," Chloe finished.

"Until now," Oliver said with a smile.

Chloe smiled with him, but then her eyes clouded over. "And the League?"

Oliver looked down at his hands. "What can I say? We all thought we were invincible, or at least that you were. Your death shocked us all; we began to take risks that we never would have before. And we fell, one by one."

A single tear fell down Chloe's right cheek. "I am so sorry that I wasn't here. That I started all of this."

Oliver stood, shaking his head. He pulled Chloe into his arms and began to rub her back, his fingers moving over the soft fabric of the t-shirt she was wearing. "Don't say that. None of this was your fault. We were just all so young Chloe. So young and so foolish. We underestimated Lex and even worse, his father. Lionel betrayed us all. You couldn't have helped, Chloe. If you had been here you might have died, and in a way you can't come back from."

"I just wish…"

"I know," Oliver replied. "Me too."

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_A/N: So what did you think? Review Please!_


	3. Chapter 3

_Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It's the transition that's troublesome_ —Isaac Asimov

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Chapter 3

Oliver continued to hold Chloe and after a while she began to cry into his shoulder. Her sobs told how truly upset she really was. It had seemed to Ollie that she wasn't really processing the information, but now…it was as if she was finally accepting all the time that had been stolen from her. Her slim shoulders shook with her emotion as she finally let out the pain and confusion she felt.

Oliver couldn't help but think she had to pay a terrible price for the ability to heal.

As if she could read his thoughts, Chloe said, "Some gift, huh?"

Oliver smiled, and gently kissed her wet hair. "What do you mean?"

Chloe's voice was muffled, but it sounded like she was remembering something funny. "Don't you remember? It was just after Clark and I became members of the League. I felt the need to tell you about my ability. You had cut your finger on the can of chili you were going to have for lunch."

Oliver smiled. "Yes, I remember. You took it from me and healed my finger. You said it was your freakish ability and I said…"

"You said it was a gift," Chloe replied.

"It is," Oliver said. "The gift is that you are standing here, talking to me."

Chloe smiled and finally pulled back from his arms. She immediately braced her arms across her stomach, as if she had to prepare for what was to come. "What happened to my family, Ollie?"

Her smile was telling him that she was brave, but he didn't believe it. She never called him Ollie, he was only Oliver to her. That one slip of the tongue said more than she ever could have herself.

"Your father is living in Gotham now."

"Gotham?"

"Yeah," Ollie replied with a smile. "He is working as a manager for one of the Wayne facilities just out of town. He had just gotten remarried, last I heard."

Chloe shook her head is surprise. She was glad her father seemed to be living a good life; if anyone deserved to be happy it was him. Her voice broke when she spoke again. "And my mother?"

"There is no change," Oliver said with a sigh. "I visit her once a week, but she never responds. Queen Industries tried everything we could to replicate the drug Lex was giving her to make her lucid, but we couldn't."

Chloe nodded. "I know you tried." She moved over to the wall again, looking at the articles that adorned it. One after another they were like monuments to death, and then she saw the lone one that wasn't.

"'I Spent the Night with Superman' by Lois Lane," Chloe murmured. She touched the surface of the newsprint fondly. "I guess Lois didn't exactly give up on her aspirations of journalism. Her own byline, she must be good." Chloe turned to him with a question in her eyes. "But who is Superman? Is he a new hero…?"

Her voice trailed off and she looked back at the article. She read more than just the headline, and then it all became clear. A tiny smile appeared at the corners of her lips. "Clark," she whispered.

"He went away for his training after…after it all fell apart." Oliver's voice filled the small room, as the rain and the lightening and the thunder continued outside.

Chloe turned to him with a smile. "He accepted his destiny."

"I don't think he saw it that way," Ollie replied. "More like he had an obligation to save the world in whatever way he could. Like a type of penance."

Chloe's face emptied of emotion. "Penance for what, Oliver?" Her voice implied she already knew the answer.

"For you," he whispered.

* * *

_Five Years Earlier..._

_"You can't stop me, Oliver," Clark said as he continued to pack his small suitcase. They were standing in his loft as Clark tried to find the last of his treasures to take with him. Oliver had come over that morning to talk to Clark about a new assignment, instead he found his friend packing to leave. "There is nothing left for me here and certainly no good reason to stay."_

_"How can you say that?" Oliver asked. "Does the League mean nothing to you now? When you and Chloe joined I thought you had turned a corner. I thought you were really interested in getting justice for those who had none."_

_"It doesn't matter anymore, Oliver." Clark said. "The League is finished. Victor's dead, A.C., is dead, Bart is hardly recognizable anymore, and Chloe…well, she is gone too. There is no League anymore, don't you see?"_

_"You're right, Clark. At least you will be right if the few of us left who can fight give up as well. We aren't the same without you, surely you can see that? How can you be so self-serving?" Oliver looked at him in disgust. "I said nothing when you wanted to waste your time with Lana in domestic bliss in spite of all the people who needed you, but I am saying something now. People need you Clark. The world needs you Clark. It isn't just about you and your feelings. Do you really have it in you to be so selfish?"_

_Oliver's words echoed throughout the barn, and Clark froze._

_"Selfish?" Clark's voice was quiet, but filled with steel. "Oh, no. I think I have given enough. I lost friends to this cause. I lost the woman I love. No, Oliver, I don't think that I have been selfish at all."_

_Oliver stood tall as he felt the weight of abandonment settle on his shoulders. He was going to lose another one of his best friends and he could do nothing to stop it. "And what about the ones who still need your help?"_

_"They will just have to wait until I return." Clark slung his bag onto his shoulder and looked at Oliver. "It's what she would want. She always wanted me to train, and now I will. I have a responsibility to fulfill and…a sentence to serve."_

_"A sentence?" Oliver asked. "What do you mean?"_

_"I have to make up for the life I took when Chloe died," Clark said quietly. "So to do that, I am going to do what she wanted for me. I'll do my training and then…maybe then I will be ready to help people again."_

* * *

"He is a reporter at the Daily Planet now," Oliver said.

Chloe smiled. "I guess all those times I roped him into working at the Torch finally paid off."

Oliver smiled. "I guess so."

"So he and Lois work together," Chloe smiled wryly. "What I wouldn't give to be a fly on the wall in that newsroom."

Oliver smiled weakly. He knew he should tell her about Lois and Clark's relationship, but he just couldn't seem to form the words. To her, no time had passed. In her mind, she was still Clark's girlfriend. Oliver wasn't sure he wanted to destroy that for her.

"What is it?" Chloe asked, looking at him. "You have that look on your face."

"What look?"

"That look like you are keeping something from me. You had that same look the night before the mission. Do you remember? I found you on the balcony."

"I remember," Oliver said.

* * *

_Five Years Earlier..._

_"Clark? Are you out here?" Chloe asked as she stepped onto the balcony. She started in surprise when she saw Oliver standing there with his arms propped up on the railing. "Oliver?" She said in surprise. "I didn't know you were home."_

_Oliver turned in surprise. "Chloe? What are you doing here?"_

_"I was supposed to meet Clark here. He wanted to go over the plan for tomorrow night again. We didn't think you were back or we would have called you as well."_

_He waved his hand as if it didn't matter. "Don't worry about it," he said._

_Chloe walked out onto the balcony and joined him in looking over the Metropolis skyline._

_They stood in silence for a long time, neither of them saying a word. Oliver enjoyed her company and there were few people that he wanted to be alone with, but Chloe was one of them. He had often been able to stand in silence with her, neither of them feeling the need to fill the empty air with words. There was a peace between them when they were not teasing each other and Chloe had always felt that she and Oliver were more alike than even they knew. That he understood her in a way that no one else ever could or would._

_"What is it?" She asked finally, her voice laced with concern._

_"Nothing."_

_"It's something," she replied._

_"I just… I am feeling a bit uneasy," Oliver responded._

_"In what way?"_

_"Everything has been too simple up until this point. I am just afraid that our luck is about to run out."_

_"Don't think like that," Chloe said, placing her hand over Oliver's. "You don't know what will happen tomorrow or even the next day."_

_Oliver looked down at their joined hands as he felt a current pass between them. Chloe's eyes widened as she looked into Oliver's which were shining back at her. She suddenly felt guilty even though she had done nothing wrong._

_Chloe stepped back, breaking their joined hands and gave Ollie a weak smile. "I better find Clark and see what is going on."_

_Oliver sighed. "You better go then."_

_"Yes," Chloe whispered._

* * *

"What did that look mean…that night on the balcony? What did it mean?" Chloe asked.

Ollie shook his head. "It doesn't matter now."

"Then tell me what you are keeping from me now," Chloe said. "I know there is something."

"You're right, there is," Ollie responded. "Look, the storm is clearing. Why don't we head back to the house and I will tell you there."

Chloe nodded. Then she and Oliver left the small command center for the manor on the hill. They ran quickly across the lawn, and they were there in no time without getting much wetter than they already were. The duo entered the house through the balcony doors into the morning room. Chloe rubbed her arms, trying to preserve the heat in her body.

"Sir?"

Both Ollie and Chloe turned at the sound of the voice of Ollie's butler who was standing in the doorway.

"Yes Stevens?" Oliver replied.

"Do you and your guest need anything before I leave for the night?" Stevens stood there in his uniform and Chloe was amazed by the fact that there was no judgment on his face, merely calm acceptance. As if he had seen all this before, and he probably had.

"No, we are fine Stevens. Oh, and this is Chloe Sullivan. She will be staying with us for a little while."

"Very good, sir," was his calm reply. "I shall prepare the blue room before I leave."

Oliver thanked him and then he turned to Chloe. "You must be tired. I can't imagine coming back to life is a very easy process."

"Thanks Oliver, but I think I have slept enough for my lifetime. Now I want to know what you are keeping from me."

"I can't tell you," he said quietly. "I have to show you." Oliver walked over to the side table and picked up the copy of the Daily Planet that was resting there. He handed Chloe the section lying on top.

**Famous Reporters Set to Wed** by Cat Grant

_Love is in the air in the bullpen of the Daily Planet. Long term partners Clark Kent and Lois Lane have been spotted around town for the previous year on more than just a work-related basis. Sources close to the team have long since labeled them as a couple coming as no surprise to readers of this column. The involvement of this news-worthy pair has been reported in this column for more that a year. What might be new to my readers is the news of impending nuptials which have been secretly circulating around town. So when asking what's next for this Pulitzer-prize winning duo, the answer just may be wedding bells._

Chloe put down the paper silently. She was turned away from Oliver as she said, "You know, I think I am tired Oliver. Would you mind showing me to my room?"

"Chloe…" Oliver began.

"Not now, Oliver. We can talk about this later…just, not now."

Oliver nodded and led her from the room. They moved quietly through the halls of the mansion as he guided her through his ancestral home. He took her up to the third floor of the mansion where the family bedrooms were. The floor squeaked as he led her down the dark hall, but Chloe didn't even hear it. Her mind was on the other side of the country with her cousin and the man who once said he loved her.

Oliver pushed open a door and flipped on a switch leading Chloe into a spacious room decorated in blue silk, but she scarcely noticed.

"Thank you, Oliver," Chloe murmured.

"Chloe, maybe we should talk about what to do next," Oliver began. "I mean, who do you want me to call first?"

Chloe shook her head. "We can deal with that tomorrow, Ollie. I just want to be alone."

"Okay," He whispered. Then Ollie slowly walked over to Chloe and pulled her into a hug and gently kissed the top of her head.

"I'm glad you're alive, Chloe."

He pulled away from her and left the room, closing the door behind him and leaving her in silence.

* * *

_A/N: So what did you think? Please Review!_


	4. Chapter 4

_Approach thy grave,_

_Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch_

_About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams_

—William Cullen Bryant

* * *

Chapter 4

She had begun to cry around three in the morning. Down the hall, and at least one hundred yards away, Oliver could hear her sobs. They echoed off the walls and wrenched him from his sleep, not that it was a deep one to begin with. After he had closed the door to Chloe's room behind him, his thoughts had been whirling chaotically. He had tried many things to get him into the sleepy frame of mind, but nothing worked. Oliver just simply could not believe that down the hall was lying a woman who the world had thought was dead for years. But she wasn't.

If Oliver was honest with himself, there was a reason he had insisted that Chloe's body be interred at Queen Manor. In those dark days, after they had rescued Chloe from the coroner's office they had immediately brought her back to Star City while they waited for her to wake up. Lois had been distraught and Clark had been forced to return to Metropolis for Chloe's funeral. He expected Chloe to be alive and well when he returned in a couple of weeks. But she wasn't.

Oliver had placed her body in one of the spare guest rooms that the servants only cleaned once a month. He thought she would be awake by the time it became a problem. He would go in and sit with her, but after two weeks of no response, Oliver had begun to lose hope. When Clark returned he went in and sat with Chloe's lifeless body for over five hours and when he emerged he declared that it was time for her to be buried.

_"She's dead, Oliver. Can't you see that?"_

_"How the hell am I supposed to know what dead looks like in this case? You told me that she looked like this before and then suddenly rose from the dead! How do we know she isn't going to do that this time?"_

_"It's different…" Clark said, looking over at Chloe's still body. "I can feel it Oliver and I know you can too."_

_Oliver nodded shortly, but that didn't change the way he felt about the situation. It was different but Chloe wasn't dead, he could feel it._

That had been one of the worst moments of Oliver's life. He and Clark had argued fiercely, but in the end Oliver had given into Clark's wishes with one caveat: that she be interred there on Queen land. Clark had been confused as to why, and Oliver would not give a reason, but in the end he had agreed. It wasn't like they were going to take her back to Smallville and lay her in the empty casket under the headstone that bore her name.

What Clark never knew was that the coffin she was placed in was electronically wired to monitor movement and her heartbeat. Oliver had then set it so any movement would alert the monitors in the control room which would in turn alert his watch. Oliver set up that extra safety precaution so that if he was away, and she woke, he would know. He didn't really know what he would have done if she had woken while he was away from the house. Probably called Stevens, he supposed, and scared the hell out of him by asking him to make a trip down to the Queen mausoleum and open a coffin.

The crying was continuing, and Oliver simply couldn't leave her alone any longer. He got up from his bed and left the master bedroom, padding quietly down the long and dark hall to Chloe's room.

There was no light coming from under the door, but she was obviously awake. Oliver turned the doorknob quietly and walked into the room. If she heard him enter she gave no indication. Her sobs continued in full force.

Oliver came to the edge of her bed and whispered her name, "Chloe?"

She continued to cry and didn't even stop when the mattress dipped under Oliver's weight. He eased onto the bed and pulled her into his arms. Chloe continued to sob against his chest, wetting it with her tears. Oliver could say nothing to soothe her, but he continued to stroke her hair and murmur to her that it was going to be alright. She felt light in his arms, and Oliver felt a sense of rightness that he hadn't known for a long time.

When her sobs and tremors began to ease, Chloe continued to hold onto Oliver as though he were a life-raft.

"I don't suppose I need to ask you why you were crying," Oliver murmured. "It must have been hard to find out about Clark and Lois."

Chloe sighed tremulously. "It's not that," she whispered. "I know I should be crying about him and after I have had time to think about it maybe I will, but I have just been thinking of all the things I missed. Victor and A.C. died and I wasn't here for that! And Bart, poor Bart, who loved nothing more than to run, he had one of his legs taken? It is just a lot to absorb, let alone deal with in one night."

Oliver continued to stroke her hair, and for some reason it felt totally natural to be resting in Oliver's arms. As if she had been lying in his arms for years.

Chloe continued to speak in a halting voice. "And I missed out on five years. Everyone moved on and I didn't. I feel like that mission happened just yesterday and that we were all at Craterlake a couple of months ago. But it has been years…years, Oliver!"

Oliver looked down at the blond head which was lying on his chest and sighed. "And Clark?"

"What about Clark?"

"Does that feel like just yesterday too?"

Chloe thought about that for a moment before she answered. "No, not really. It sort of feels like a lifetime ago. I don't think it would have worked out with us anyway," she said.

"You don't mean that," Oliver replied.

"Why don't I?" Chloe asked in surprise. Why was he contradicting her on this?

"You are just saying that because you are trying to protect yourself," Oliver replied. He sat up suddenly, breaking his hold on Chloe. He swung his legs to the edge of the bed and placed them on the ground. Chloe could only see his back in the dim moonlight and she was amazed by the tension in his muscles. "Clark was the one for you," Oliver continued. "You don't really think that means nothing to you, do you?"

"It's been five years Oliver," Chloe responded.

"Not for you."

"No, not for me, but it has been for him." Chloe smiled sadly to herself, though Oliver could not see it. "I knew this would happen eventually."

Oliver turned and looked at her in surprise and derision. "You knew that you would be dead for five years?"

Chloe smiled. "No, I knew we would be separated. If not by something like this then by his training. Clark and I were temporary, Oliver, and we knew it."

He shook his head. "I don't believe that."

"We did, though."

Oliver watched her carefully. "So you are telling me that if Clark showed up here tomorrow and told you how much he loved you, there wouldn't be some small part of you that would be thrilled?"

Chloe didn't answer.

"That's what I thought," Oliver said sadly.

"Why are we even having this conversation?" Chloe asked, changing the subject. "Why do you care so much?"

Oliver just shook his head and stood.

"Jeez, what was I thinking?" Chloe said sarcastically. "Trying to get a straight answer out of Oliver Queen, what nonsense!"

Oliver's mouth twitched in humor, but he said nothing as he walked to the door. Once he reached it, he turned and said, "Sleep well, Chloe. I'll see you in the morning."

Chloe simply rolled her eyes and flopped back down on her back. She supposed some things never changed. She still used sarcasm and humor to deflect conversations when her feelings were too involved. She didn't know what she still felt for Clark. Part of her did mean what she had said. She had definitely known that her relationship with Clark was temporary. Hell, she thought everyone knew that. Even Lois had warned her to protect her heart for when it inevitably ended. Chloe wanted to believe that their relationship had been the stuff of true love, but to say that would be a lie. She had known that it wasn't like that. What they had was a friendship which turned to love. It had been her best relationship, but she knew that wasn't saying much. For her and Clark there had been no passion, no heat. It had been lacking, so when Clark made his speech about no sex because he didn't want to hurt her, she hadn't really minded. She had just liked being needed, even if there was no true _need_ behind it.

But despite their limitations, they had been happy together. After the neurotic relationship he had with Lana, and the one filled with lies and evasions she had with Jimmy, it had been good for them to both be in a healthy relationship. What Chloe truly missed, if she was honest with herself, was the closeness she had felt with Clark. She had been dead for five years but apparently the thing she had missed the most was human contact. That was what had woken her, that was what made her cry for no discernable reason, and that had been what Oliver provided. Chloe never would have guessed it, but Oliver had turned out to be the most important man in her life. If it wasn't for him, she would probably be buried six feet under somewhere. If it wasn't for him, she would have been forgotten.

He had taken care of her when she could not take care of herself.

And for that, she was grateful.

* * *

Why _did_ he care so much? Oliver couldn't seem to provide the answer to that question, no even to himself, as he walked back to his room. She had just come back from the dead, for Christ-sakes, and there he was interrogating her as if he had the right to know her innermost feelings and desires. He couldn't answer the question as to why, but more simply, it just was. 

He had always felt this weird over-protectiveness when it came to Chloe. He remembered the day that she and Clark had told him they were together. He had felt as though the air had been sucked from the room and then he found himself getting angry. Not at Clark, but at Chloe. What the hell was she thinking getting involved with Clark? He and she both knew that Clark would never truly put Lana behind him, and Oliver was just enraged that Chloe would take second place to that.

His anger had passed quickly enough, and he had been able to give them a fake smile, but he had never really been able to accept them as a couple. No matter how he thought about it, they were just wrong for each other. Clark was too simple for her. He couldn't possibly appreciate all the many things that encapsulated Chloe.

No, Oliver couldn't explain why he felt that way. Just as he could never explain why it was so important to him to have Chloe kept here at Queen Manor. Nor why he went down to the command center every night, when he was home, for over five years, just to make sure the equipment was working properly.

It never even occurred to him that he might care more for her than a friend would. That maybe, just maybe, the reason he had allowed himself to be alone for the past five years, why he had looked to Dinah for comfort, even why he had never returned to Metropolis was because he had been waiting for Chloe to come back to life.

And back to him.

* * *

Across the country, in another darkened bedroom, Clark Kent sat up with a gasp. Something was different. He looked down at his sleeping fiancé wondering what had woken him from his sleep. There were no cries for help, nor was there any change in Lois's breathing, but something was different; he could feel it. 

He tried to think of things he had forgotten, anything that would have jerked him from his sleep in the early hours of the morning, but Clark was stumped. He finally got out of bed and left the room, going into the kitchen to make some coffee. It was almost five, and he was supposed to be getting up in an hour any way. But this disturbance in Clark's sleep bothered him more than he would ever care to admit.

Having missed his presence in bed, Lois was not far behind him. As she walked out of their bedroom, she glared at him with sleepy eyes.

"So what damsel needed rescuing at five in the morning?" She walked over to the pot of coffee he had made and poured herself a cup. "Honestly, couldn't she wait for a reasonable time of the morning to be in peril?"

Clark smiled. "It's not early morning everywhere, Lois. There are other parts of the world that need Superman's help, no matter what the time."

"Whatever," was the grumpy reply he received.

"And anyway," he continued. "I wasn't saving the world this morning. I just woke up…I don't know why."

"What no tsunami to prevent? No earthquake to quell?"

"Nope," Clark responded, running a hand over his face roughly. "I was sleeping and then suddenly…something was different."

"What was different?"

"I don't know," he replied. "But something certainly is."

Clark couldn't escape from the uneasy feeling that something important had occurred.

* * *

_A/N: Don't forget to review!!!!!!!!!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Grief is the price we pay for love_ —Elizabeth II

* * *

Chapter 5

When Chloe woke the next morning, she didn't feel as she supposed someone who just returned from the dead should feel. Instead of jubilant and thankful, she felt rather empty inside. She was lying in one of the most beautiful bedrooms she had ever seen and the sun was streaming in the window, hell, even the birds were singing, and she felt nothing. Chloe stood and walked over to the window, looking out over Queen Manor. From her spot she could see the control center in the distance, looking like an enclosed gazebo. She could see a big lake, and she could see the archery range in the distance. And she could see the mausoleum.

It was funny, really. She had lived in that small concrete structure for five years. No, correction, she had been dead in that concrete structure for five years. Well, that was longer than she had ever lived any place else. Where would she have been if Ollie hadn't taken her in? Probably starved for oxygen right about now.

Chloe sighed, and turned from the window, but as she was doing so, something caught her eye. Next to the window was a table which held bottles of perfume and a brush on them, but that was not what caught her eye. It was the picture resting on the far side. Chloe walked over and picked it up. It was a photo of a blond haired little boy with serious dark brown eyes. But he was smiling in a way that made Chloe's breath catch in her throat. It was Ollie, she was sure of it. So whose room was this then?

That thought ran through her mind as she showered in the adjoining bathroom. It felt wonderful to have the hot, steaming water pounding on her back, but she wondered what she was going to wear. She was loathe to put back on the black dress she had been laying in for the past five years. But when she checked the closet, she found it filled with clothes. They weren't exactly her taste, rather too flashy for her, but she was glad to have something clean to wear. Chloe was perplexed more than ever as to who stayed in that room.

She found her way down the dark halls and eventually to the dining room. The house was enormous, much bigger than Lex's mansion could ever hope to be. In fact, it made his home seem like a rustic cabin in the woods. When Chloe entered the dining room, she was not surprised to see Ollie sitting at the table, reading the paper. She was surprised though, by the enormous smile he sent her way.

"Good morning," he said, indicating the chair next to his. Chloe walked around the table and sat in the seat he had pointed to.

"Hey, so I got lost like five times on the way down here. How did you grow up here and not end up lost and starving in the wine cellar?"

"Which one?" Oliver asked with a grin.

"You have more than one?"

"Four, actually. One for whites, one for reds, one for champagnes, and one for imported." Oliver read the paper as he answered calmly, like it was no big deal.

"Anyway," Chloe said, rolling her eyes. "How did you grow up in a place like this?"

Stevens came and put a plate filled with steaming food before her. Chloe's stomach turned at the sight. It always took her a day or two before she could eat again after waking up from the dead. She wanted to try though, so she took a tentative bite of her eggs.

"It was fun," Oliver said with a smile. "It was like having an endless world at your disposal. And besides, my parents always made it feel like a home instead of a manor. It was warm then…and inviting. Now it just feels like a manor."

Chloe nodded. "Speaking of, whose room is it that I am staying in? It had all of these modern clothes, but there was a picture of you as a little boy."

Oliver's eyes became hooded as he looked at hers. "It was my mother's," Oliver said. "Whenever my father would go away on business she would stay in that room. She said that she couldn't sleep in their bed without him there, so the Blue room was sort of her second bedroom."

Chloe smiled sadly at the story. "And the clothes?"

"Dinah's," Oliver said. "She stayed here after Victor died, and that was the room she used."

Chloe nodded but she was still confused. "Where is Dinah now?"

Oliver shrugged. "You got me. Last I heard she was spending her free time in Metropolis, but I never really tried to look for her. She had a hard time when Victor died; I think a part of her died as well. She was never the same, not really."

Chloe ate her eggs in silence. It was irrational, she knew, but she couldn't help feeling like things would have been different if only she had been there.

"So, have you decided who you want to call first?" Oliver asked.

"About that—"

"I was thinking you might want to start with Lois and Clark and then they can give you ideas as to how to contact your dad without giving him a heart attack. What do you think?"

"I think I am not going to contact anyone," Chloe said.

Oliver looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that I have do desire to talk to anyone."

"Chloe," Oliver began. "You can't just not tell them."

"Why not? They are doing fine without me, Oliver. I hardly think I need to really stir everything up again by telling them that I am alive. They have moved on and are living good lives. Lois and Clark, my dad, what would I really accomplish by telling them that I am alive?"

Oliver felt himself getting angry. "How about assuaging their grief which they have over your death?"

"What grief? It sounds like Lois and Clark are doing jut fine without me."

"Oh, I get it. This is about Clark. The man you claimed you didn't mind losing just last night."

"This isn't about Clark," Chloe snapped. "This is about everyone having moved on without me." Chloe's voice suddenly became pleading as she begged him to understand. "The world is different now, Oliver. They are different now. I am not. I am still twenty-one, and all I have are memories of things that happened half a decade ago. In the short term, yes, I would make them feel better. But in the long term I would just be intruding on their lives. It would get awkward and none of us would be able to look at each other in the same way. We have all changed, Ollie."

Oliver looked at her shrewdly, trying to guess her real motivation. "Yes, we have all changed, Chloe. There is no denying that. But that isn't really the issue here. The issue is that you don't want to have to face your past."

"So what if it is? It is my past to face Oliver, and it is my decision as to when to do it. I don't need you treating me like an invalid just because I was dead up until yesterday. My faculties are all working again, and I can take care of myself."

Oliver shook his head at Chloe. He couldn't believe she was being so single-minded. "Well, what are you going to do then? If you aren't telling anyone you are alive I assume you aren't going back to Smallville. Are you going to travel? What?"

"Actually, I was thinking about staying here in Star City. You have a newspaper here, right?"

Oliver nodded.

"I could write under a pseudonym and maybe get an apartment in town."

"You don't have to do that," Oliver said. "You can live here. I miss having company around."

Chloe smiled at him. "Thank you, Oliver."

"Don't thank me. I don't agree with your decisions, but I know that this transition must be incredibly difficult for you. I will help in any way I can."

"Thank you," she said again. "You know, it's funny."

"What is?"

"You are turning out to be the best friend of my life."

Oliver smiled then, his eyes twinkling. "I am glad you feel that way."

Chloe stood and put down her napkin. She then stopped suddenly. "Oh, I meant to ask you about Lana. I think you told me about everyone but her. Did she ever return from France?" Lana had gone back to Paris when she and Clark broke up. She hadn't wanted to be in Smallville anymore, and Chloe had thought that was a good thing. They never talked about the fact that Chloe had been dating Clark, but she seemed to be returning to her old self from her letters.

"Lana Luthor?" Oliver asked. "Yes, she returned from France for your mock funeral and stayed after that."

"You mean Lana Lang."

"No, I mean Lana Luthor. It seems that divorce wasn't quite as she expected and your friend remarried Lex not long after her return. They have a son, last I heard."

Chloe looked at him in surprise. And then she began to laugh. "You know, I don't think I can trust anything anyone says."

"Why is that?" Oliver asked.

"Because, all of my friends seem to be liars! Lana claimed she hated Lex, and Clark and Lois could hardly stand each other! And yet, they all ended up with the person they claimed they didn't want." Chloe's laughter continued and it was such a lovely sound that Oliver soon joined in.

"Life has a funny way of turning out, doesn't it?"

Oliver nodded. As he watched her standing there smiling and laughing, he felt his stomach clench. Very funny, indeed.

* * *

After Chloe left the dinning room claiming she wanted "to explore the museum he called a home," Oliver went down to the archery grove that he had built in the back of the estate. Stevens offered to take him in the golf cart, but Oliver waved him off. He wanted to feel the ground as he walked out on his property. It was strange, but for the life of him, Oliver couldn't explain why he had gotten so angry when Chloe told him she didn't want to tell people she was alive. It was obviously her decision, but he couldn't help but feel that was just selfish of her. He knew why she was doing it, he even knew why she thought she was doing it, but all he could think of when she said that were his parents. It infuriated him that she could do that when he would give anything to have his parents back. He imagined that Lois and Gabe felt the same way about Chloe. To lose a family member was the worst hell imaginable, but if they found out she was alive and didn't tell them, well, it would be much worse. The sense of betrayal that they would feel would be incalculable.

But Oliver wasn't going to tell them. He wanted to tell them, and he wouldn't stop hounding Chloe until she did it, but there was no way that he was going to betray her trust. For some reason, Chloe looked at him with caring faith in her eyes. He wasn't going to take that away, not for anything.

Oliver reached the archery range and soon began target practice. He was using heavy arrows to simulate the weight of his trick arrows that he used during his patrols. One after another they went into the target. Zing! Zing! Zing! He continued that way for at least an hour when he heard a voice behind him.

"Jeez, remind me not to get you mad."

Oliver turned and looked at Chloe. "What are you doing down here? I thought you were going to go exploring."

"I did," was her answer. Chloe smiled at him. "And it led me down here to you."

Oliver stayed his bow and put down the quiver he had on his back. "I am not used to company when I practice."

Chloe ignored his brush-off and began to inspect his bow. "You know, I was thinking as I walked through your drafty mansion—"

"The mansion is not drafty," he interjected.

"—and I began to reflect on what you said when I told you that I wasn't going to contact my Dad and Lois."

Oliver shifted from one foot to the other. "Forget it, I was angry."

"Yes, you were," Chloe nodded. "And now I think I know why. You said that I didn't want to face my past, but it wasn't me you were talking about. It was you."

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her and said nothing.

"You are the one who wants to face your past," Chloe continued. "You wish that your parents would come back to life like me not because you want to see them, although I am sure you do, but rather because you want to fix something." Chloe looked at him steadily. "What is it that you want to fix, Oliver?"

Oliver thought about brushing her off, but he knew she would see the truth in his eyes. So instead, he told her the truth. "I wish I could take back what I said to them."

"And what was that?" She asked, her voice full of compassion.

"I told them that I hated them, that I wished I wasn't their son." Oliver felt tears fill his eyes, but he blinked them back. "I was a selfish boy, Chloe. So selfish. I never thought of others and I was jealous of all the philanthropic projects my parents were involved in. I was spoiled, pure and simple. I never paid attention to the suffering around me, only to myself. So if I could see my parents again, I would tell them two things: that I loved them, and that I was sorry."

Chloe looked at Oliver with a new understanding. "So the Justice League, that's not just about doing the right thing, is it?"

"No," he said.

"You told me earlier that you thought Clark was being Superguy or whatever because he was paying some sort of penance. Maybe, just maybe, you know a lot more about that then you'd like."

Oliver looked at her steadily and then shortly nodded his head.

Chloe walked forward and pulled him into a hug. She didn't know why; it just felt right.

* * *

_A/N: Please Review!_


	6. Chapter 6

_In New York I learned that I needed to love them in all their flawed, outrageous humanity, and in families there are no crimes beyond forgiveness. But it is the mystery of life that sustains me now. I look to the north, and I wish again that there were two lives apportioned to every man - and every woman_ —The Prince of Tides

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Chapter 6

Routine soon settled over Queen Manor. The days slowly began to tick by as Chloe returned to life. Never one to be idle, she had gone down to the offices of the Star City Gazette on her third day back from the dead. With a couple of sample articles and a glowing recommendation from Oliver Queen, she soon had a job in the biggest newspaper on the west coast.

Chloe had not wanted to use her connection with Oliver to get her job, but she had little choice. Because Chloe Sullivan was dead to the world, she couldn't very well use the Planet for a reference. It broke her heart that she could never return to her old life because of the choices she was making, but Chloe could not seem to stop herself. She just didn't want to be that old Chloe Sullivan anymore. She couldn't return to being Clark's sidekick any more and with his relationship with Lois, that was the only position open.

No, Chloe Sullivan was dead, and Natalie Blythe had taken her place.

She had found some irony in taking a name to honor her hero Nellie Bly.

Furthering her transformation, she had died her hair dark brown and added extensions. Gone were her green eyes as well, and in their place were dark chocolate ones. And also gone were her clothes and big chunky bracelets she had once worn. In their place was sleek and feminine attire that made her look as though she belonged in a fashion magazine.

As far as Oliver was concerned, he had not stopped encouraging her to contact Clark, but at the same time he made it very obvious that he was in her corner. In Oliver, Chloe was discovering a man she had only imagined existed. He was kind and good, and all the things that any woman would want. Chloe just considered herself lucky that he saw her as a friend.

And as for the routine they had settled into, it was a wonderful one. Chloe would arrive home from the paper around five and he would wander in not much longer after that. They would have dinner together and then talk in the library until Oliver had to go on patrol.

Chloe had initially thought she would resume her work in helping Oliver, but she soon discovered she had no real desire to do so. It was almost like Chloe felt as though she had given all she could and there was nothing left to give. Oliver hadn't minded when she told him that, in fact, he had agreed with her. Neither of them knew what would happen if she used her powers again, and they didn't want to risk it.

It soon became public knowledge that Oliver had a young woman living with him, but because he was so beloved by the city there was only a small blurb in the paper about it. No picture was printed, and Chloe couldn't help but feel relief. She knew the conclusion that people were going to jump to, and she knew her colleagues treated her with deference because of this, but she just didn't want their "relationship" to be picked up by any other paper.

She had to put her reservations on hold for the night, though. It was a month after Chloe came back to life and Oliver was taking her to a masked ball. It was for one of his favorite charities and Chloe couldn't say no when he asked her.

They were currently riding in Oliver's chauffeured car on the way to the benefit, and Chloe looked over at Oliver's profile. His face was covered by a half-mask, as was hers, but she could still see the play of emotions across his face.

"What's wrong?" Chloe asked.

"Nothing," was the quiet reply she received. "I just feel like something's coming."

"Great," Chloe said sarcastically.

"What?" Oliver asked, turning to look at her.

"Well, the last time you had one of these feelings I ended up without a pulse and missed five years of my life. Excuse me if I don't jump for joy."

Oliver smiled at her. "Not a feeling like that, just sort of this feeling that everything is about to change." He took her hand in the darkened car. "It could be a good thing…you never know."

"A good thing, sure," Chloe said quietly.

"Chloe…" he began.

Chloe smiled to herself. She liked it that Oliver still called her Chloe when they were alone. Even Stevens didn't call her Miss Sullivan anymore.

But to Oliver she would always be Chloe.

She was saved from saying anything else at that moment, as the car rolled up to the benefit. Chloe waited until Gus, the chauffeur, opened the door and then she stepped out. Oliver followed after her and took her hand as he escorted her inside.

Chloe was amazed by the ballroom when they stepped inside. The benefit was being held at the Star City Met. It was much like the one in New York, and was big enough for the occasion. The ballroom was decorated in gold and silver, and the people filling it were all dressed in evening wear and masks, just like her and Oliver.

Oliver quickly found some of his business associates and began to discuss the market with them. Chloe wasn't bored because she was working the business section at the Gazette, and these men were a wealth of information. She was even able to contribute and Chloe could feel Oliver looking at her with pride in his eyes.

It was all soon disrupted, by the presence of two people Chloe had hoped to never see again.

"Oliver Queen, I am surprised to see you here."

Oliver and Chloe turned at the sound of Lex's voice. Chloe said nothing, praying Lex wouldn't recognize her. When she finally was able to look at him, she was surprised to see Lana by his side. She knew she shouldn't be, Oliver had told her they were together, but seeing it was totally different than hearing about it.

Lex hardly spared a glance for her, he was too busy staring at Oliver with hatred in his eyes.

"I don't know why you are surprised, Lex. This is my city, and I am involved in all the major charities here." Oliver's voice was dripping with loathing, causing Chloe to look at him in surprise. She had never seen such blatant hostility from Oliver before. He usually managed to hide his hatred of Lex behind his manners and witty derision. But that was gone, and in its place was an anger so great that Chloe could almost feel it vibrating off of him.

"You never miss a chance of a photo op, do you Queen?"

"People in glass houses, Luthor…" Oliver was about to continue when Chloe took his hand and gave him a gentle squeeze. She hoped that she could calm him down, and prevent him from making a scene.

Her gesture was not lost on Lex either, who then said, "Who is your friend? Last I checked, you had none. A series of unfortunate accidents," Lex said with a smirk.

Oliver clenched his jaw and gritted out, "Natalie Blythe, meet Lex Luthor and his wife Lana."

"It's nice to meet you," Chloe said.

Lana, who had been silent until this point, jerked her head up at the sound of Chloe's voice. "Natalie? Your name is Natalie?"

Chloe nodded, not liking the look in Lana's eyes. She looked at her former friend and was sorry to see all the changes that time had wrought on her face. She and Lex were not wearing masks, so Chloe was given an opportunity to study their faces. Lex looked much the same, though his eyes had a slightly glazed look about them. Almost like he was high, and Chloe supposed that he was, on power.

Lana, on the other hand, looked nothing like the girl Chloe had known. Her once kind eyes had been perverted by a look of coldness that did not help to soften her features. All traced of softness were gone from her face, and she was left with hard angles and hollows. She looked every bit of her twenty-six years. And to Chloe's dismay, Lana seemed to be pregnant again.

Chloe felt a rush of pity for the woman her friend used to be. It was very obvious that woman no longer existed. Still, Chloe's sympathy only went so far because it was obvious to her that Lana had walked into her life with both eyes open. She had chosen to marry Lex for a second time knowing full well what kind of man he was.

And weirdly enough, there seemed to be some kind of contentment in that cold face. It was like she had gotten everything she had ever wanted.

Chloe wondered if Lex knew about Clark now, too.

"You remind me of someone," Lana was saying. "A friend of mine."

"Thank you," Chloe said, trying to drop the pitch of her voice.

Oliver seemed nervous, and tried to steer Chloe away from them. "Well, as much fun as this was, Natalie and I need to circulate. Lex, Lana." Oliver said to them with a nod as he took Chloe's hand and led her away.

Oliver and she soon stumbled on some of her work colleagues who were there to cover the benefit, and they quickly fell into conversation.

Chloe's unease never left her though. Every time she looked around, she felt Lana's eye boring into the back of her head.

The rest of the evening went off without a hitch until Chloe excused herself to go to the bathroom. She was standing at the vanity fixing her lipstick when Lana walked in.

"Ah, Natalie, wasn't it?" Lana asked waking over to the sink.

"Yes." Chloe felt panic fill her. Lana knew something, Chloe didn't know how, but she did.

"And what is it you do _Natalie_, besides dating Oliver Queen, that is?" Lana put a funny emphasis on her name.

"I work for the Gazette."

Lana's eyes burned with triumph when Chloe said that. "Oh, so you're a reporter."

"No," Chloe quickly corrected. "I work for the business section, that's how I met Oliver."

Lana smiled tightly, not acknowledging what Chloe said. "That friend I said you reminded me of was a reporter as well."

"I told you, I'm not a—"

"She was about your height as well and good friends with Oliver Queen. I am surprised he has never mentioned that. Her name was Chloe Sullivan," Lana said. "And if it wasn't for your hair and eyes, you would be a dead ringer for her. You even have the Midwest accent."

Chloe felt real fear begin to fill her. What if Lana was working with Lex now, and knew that Chloe was a meteor freak? She tried to act nonchalant. "I think he might have mentioned her in passing."

"Hmmm," Lana said, as she carefully applied lipstick to her puckered lips. "I am surprised he only mentioned it in passing. He was quite in love with her, you know."

Chloe stared at Lana in shock.

"He always got this goofy look on his face when he was near her," Lana continued. "And if she hadn't started dating my ex-boyfriend, well, who knows what would have happened." Lana looked at Chloe shrewdly. "But then she died. We were all devastated by her death, but none more so than Oliver."

Chloe shook her head, hardly believing what Lana was saying. "There was this charity function about two months after Chloe died," Lana went on. "Oliver hadn't been at her funeral, but he came to Metropolis for the event. I could hardly believe the change in him. It was like he lost his best friend…which I could relate to."

Chloe was lost in her own thoughts. Lana had hardly ever been with her and Oliver at the same time, but they gone out with her and Clark a couple of times before Clark and her broke up. It had been as friends, but now Chloe was wondering if that was what it really was for Ollie. Did he really see her as just a friend?

The answer suddenly came to Chloe as she thought about all the things that Oliver had done, believing that she wasn't really dead. The way he had sort of enveloped her into his life. Chloe suddenly felt a warm glow fill her.

Looking at Lana, she felt no need for pretense. "Thank you for telling me that."

Lana nodded and for a moment she looked like the girl Chloe had once called her best friend. "Chloe…was my best friend," Lana said. Her words implied she knew who she was talking to though. "I felt so horrible when she died. Not only for the way that we had ended our friendship, but also for the part I played in keeping her from the man she loved. I was selfish, and she didn't deserve that."

Chloe felt her eyes fill with tears, but she held back from crying. "I am sure she knew that."

"I hope so," Lana said quietly.

"If you could tell her anything, what would you say?"

One tear slipped down Lana's cheek. It was small, but it was enough for Chloe to know her friend still lurked inside somewhere. "I would tell her that I was sorry. And that I loved her. She was my sister, and I don't think she ever knew how much I cared about her. I would tell her that I wished she was happy, and that she deserved that.

"And I would tell her not to worry about me, though I know she would. I would tell her that I was happy, and that though I made a choice she wouldn't have approved of I hope she could understand. I would tell her I have a son," Lana's voice broke slightly.

"He is beautiful and will soon have a sister to keep him company. But the one thing I would want her to know, above anything else, is that her secret is safe with me."

Lana said nothing more, but looked steadily at Chloe. Chloe smiled and Lana returned it. She then turned and left the restroom.

Chloe felt her entire body relax. They weren't the same people anymore, but Lana would still keep her secret. That meant a lot to Chloe.

Her thoughts then suddenly went to Oliver.

She needed to know how he felt about her.

She needed to see him. Now.

As those thoughts filled Chloe, she couldn't help think about Lana again. Seeing her and Lex was a sharp reminder of all the things, good and bad, that she had given up by letting Chloe Sullivan stay dead.

She only wished that there was some way she could live two lives at once.

But those thoughts would have to wait; right now, she needed to find Ollie.

* * *

_A/N: Sorry, I couldn't resist bringing Lana in. What did you think? The Chlollie confrontation will take place in the next chapter. Please review!_


	7. Chapter 7

_The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing_ --Blaise Pascal

* * *

Chapter 7

As they drove home from the benefit, Oliver knew something was wrong with Chloe. She kept looking out the window and sighing. Oliver doubted that she was aware of it, but he had a feeling he should not speak until she did. 

He loved to watch her.

She had taken her mask off, as had he, and her cheek was pressed against the glass of the window with her hand tucked up under her chin, like a child's. Oliver smiled as he looked at her. It was so amazing that she was here and had spent the evening with him. He had spent the last couple of weeks just waiting for her to disappear and to wake up in a cold sweat to find out it was all a dream. But it wasn't, Chloe was here. She was here, and she was with him.

So he just waited. He waited while she worked out whatever was in her mind. He was fine with waiting. Hell, he had been doing it for five years; he could wait a little longer.

Chloe had no idea of the thoughts that preoccupied Ollie's mind, but she was afflicted with different thoughts. She was only now starting to really feel the effects of her conversation with Lana. It had shaken her in a way that she had not been expecting. And now she could see that it wasn't just fear of getting caught. She was shaken because for the first time she had to really confront what her death had done to people. Chloe was by no means going to take credit for the choices that Lana made, but it was possible that she had contributed to them in some small way.

Chloe wondered if that was true with Lois and Clark as well.

The idea that her friends hadn't just moved on with out her was really starting to take hold. Until this point she had been feeling so abandoned, as if her friends had just tossed her into an open grave without any consideration for her. The only person who hadn't made her feel like that was Ollie. But now she had to face the idea that it wasn't true. That maybe, just maybe, her friends had suffered from her loss.

And now she was also filled with thoughts about Oliver too. Things that had never mattered before suddenly were starting to plague her. Why had she been kept at Queen Manor? Why did Oliver keep her so near to him? What was she to him, and had he maybe suffered more from her loss than he had let on?

As she stared out into the night as the car left the center of the city, Chloe tried to pinpoint the moments in her life that had led to this. What had she done to get to this point? Was this new life a punishment or a reward?

Chloe didn't know the answers to those questions, but she did know that she needed to contact her friends. It was time, and they deserved to know that she was alive. And though Lana had promised to keep her secret, she didn't want chance to interfere and have her friends find out from some other source.

"Oliver," she said into the darkness of the car.

"Yes?"

"I think it is time we called Clark and Lois."

Oliver let out the breath he had not even known he was holding. He smiled to himself and nodded his head, though she could not see. "I think you are right, Chloe."

"It's just time, you know?"

"They are going to be so glad to hear from you."

Chloe laughed bitterly. "Oh, I don't know about that, but they deserve to know that I am back. It is not fair to them to keep this a secret any more."

Oliver looked at her with guarded eyes. "I am not questioning your decision; I think it is the right one, but…"

"But what?"

"What changed?" Ollie asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, as recently as earlier today you were completely against the idea of letting everyone know."

"I know I was," Chloe murmured.

"So what changed? Or rather, what made you change your mind?"

Chloe bit her lip and then turned to Oliver. "It was seeing Lana, to be honest."

"Lana," Oliver said with barely concealed contempt. "What does she have to do with this?"

"Seeing her reminded me of all the things that I am giving up by not letting everyone know about my miraculous resurrection." She said the last few words with no small hint of irony.

"Like friends?"

Chloe nodded. "Like friends, like a connection to the world other than you. I have loved my life this past month, being in Star City and all, but I think I need to face all the things in my past that led me to this moment."

Oliver silently agreed with her. "Do you want me to call Clark when we get home?"

Chloe smiled at his phrasing. She liked that he had called Queen Manor home, as if it were home to her as well. That was just how Chloe felt too. She loved Star City and Queen Manor was quickly ceasing to feel like a museum. "Yes, we can call him when we get back to the house," She said.

"Did you want to tell Lana?" Oliver asked her a few moments later.

"I didn't need to tell her, she figured it out."

Oliver grabbed her hand suddenly. "Does Lex know?"

"No, I don't think she will tell him. She told me that she wouldn't."

"Chloe," Oliver said carefully. "You have to be cautious with the Luthors. You can't trust them, not one of them. Not even Lionel. After you were gone, he betrayed us and gave key information that Clark trusted him with to Lex. I know that when you look at Lana you see a friend, but Chloe…she is a Luthor, first and foremost."

Chloe nodded. "I know that, I could tell. But I think deep down she feels that she owes me, Ollie. For some reason, I trust her to keep my secret. But soon it won't matter, all my friends will know."

They returned to silence once again, when Chloe remembered something she wanted to know. "Hey, what was with your behavior towards Lex? Hell, I know you hate him but I could hardly believe the smoke that was coming out of your ears."

Oliver looked thoughtful, and then he answered her slowly. "Let's just say that things with Lex escalated after you were gone. He knew that he had made serious inroads into destroying the Justice League, and he did not hesitate in using that to his advantage."

Chloe sighed. "That explains your anger towards him, but not his towards you."

Oliver grinned sort of mischievously. "Well, I might have been so annoyed by him that I used my incredible savvy to hurt him in the business world."

Chloe smiled. "What did you do?"

"I might have stolen several prominent researchers he had working for him. And if that wasn't enough, I kinda…"

"Yes?"

"I bought a substantial amount of stock in his company. I am one of the major shareholders now, so if he wants anything done he must get my vote."

Chloe started laughing. "Oh, that must really piss him off."

"Yes," Oliver said with a satisfied sigh. "It does."

Chloe smiled at him, amazed by his ability to use things to his advantage. Anyone else would have been so devastated by the loss of their friends that they would not have been able to fight back. Trust Oliver to never give up, and if one approach wasn't working, then to use another.

After another silence, Chloe finally began to broach the subject that had been on her mind all night. "Oliver," she began cautiously. "Lana said something that has been on my mind."

"What did she say?"

"It was about you."

"Oh?"

"After I died, she said that when she saw you again, that you were…"

"Yes?"

"Different. She was almost implying that you were acting like you lost a best friend…or maybe something more. Was she mistaken?" Chloe looked at him, but she could read nothing from his shuttered expression. "Because what she said has gotten me to thinking about everything that has happened. Why was I kept at Queen Manor? Why aren't you and Clark friends anymore? Why did you act as though I was so important to you?"

"Because you were," Ollie whispered.

Chloe said nothing; she could hardly breathe enough to talk.

"I kept you at Queen Manor to keep you close to me," Oliver said, his brown eyes searching her own.

"I never really understood how I felt about you until you came back, Chloe. But I know now, after many sleepless nights, that I really and truly cared about you. It wasn't just friendship to me. You were the most important thing in my life and I never understood that. 

"It is only now with hindsight that I can see how your death really got to me. It led me to make stupid decisions and put my team at risk in ways I never would have before. It was almost as if I wanted to test my own mortality. I think I did. Bart and A.C. tried to help, but I wouldn't let them. And then I lost them. For a long time I told myself it was losing all of them, even though Bart's not dead, but losing them was what made me change.

"But I know now that it was because I lost the woman that I cared so much about. God, you have no idea of how seeing you with Clark tortured me. I thought I wanted to rip him to pieces when he would touch you, even the most innocent of touches drove me crazy."

Chloe felt her heart beat rapidly. The sound was so loud that it echoed in her ears along with Oliver's words.

"I didn't want him to touch you; I wanted to be the one, the only one, who could. So that is part of the reason I haven't seen Clark in a long time. At first I was so angry at him, and then he left for his training, but when he came back I just couldn't seem to forgive him."

"Forgive him?" Chloe whispered hoarsely.

"For being the reason you used your powers that night. I know it is not rational, and I know that had anyone else been lying in that alley that you would have done the same thing, but I was so mad that he lived when you could not. I know it is wrong of me to think like that, but I couldn't help it. I guess emotions can make you do stupid things."

"So what are you saying, Oliver?" Chloe whispered, her entire body filled with hope.

"I am saying that I love you," he whispered.

Chloe looked into his eyes and saw the sincerity of his words. She smiled and then leaned in and kissed him. Soon his mouth was moving hungrily over hers as he pulled her into his lap. He pulled back as he brushed her long brown hair from her face, and then kissed her again.

They continued that way until they reached the house. Then Chloe pulled him from the car, tugging his hand with laughter. She led him up the steps and into the house as Ollie happily followed her with a grin upon his face.

But suddenly she stopped, and when Ollie saw why the smile faded from his mouth slowly.

Standing in the foyer of his home were Lois and Clark.

And when they saw Chloe, all the blood drained from their faces.

* * *

_A/N: Reviews always welcome!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear _—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 

* * *

Chapter 8

Earlier that night…

"Clark? Clark, are you even listening to me?"

Clark Kent turned away from the window of his apartment and looked at his impatient fiancé. "Sorry Lois, I have just had a lot on my mind lately."

Lois sighed. Clark had been so different for the last month. There was obviously something bothering him, but he refused to talk about it. Ever since that night he had woken up, he was constantly distracted but Lois honestly believed that he did not even know why.

"I know you have," Lois said. "But can you try to talk to me about it. I want my fiancé back. You have been somewhere else for this past month and I feel like you are pulling away from me." 

Clark could hear the hurt in her voice. He walked away from the window and wrapped her in his arms. "I never meant for you to feel like that. I honestly don't know what it is that is bothering me." At Lois's skeptical look he said, "It's the truth."

"Clark…"

"I promise you, Lois. I have spent this past month trying to figure out if there is something I have missed. Was there an evil plot I forgot to foil, a damsel to rescue…I am stumped."

Lois smiled grudgingly at the teasing tone of his voice. "You just seem to be constantly thinking about something. What are you thinking about Clark?"

Clark looked uneasy, but he finally said, "I have been thinking about Oliver, to be honest. We haven't heard from him in a while and I am just concerned."

Lois nodded her head. "I know you wish things were different with him, but Clark if he needed you help he would ask for it."

"I know that, Lois, really I do. It's just that Ollie doesn't always ask for help, even when he needs it. I can't help but wish…"

Lois looked at him as his voice trailed off. "Wish what?"

Clark shrugged. "I just miss having him as a friend is all. I mean, I get emails from him periodically to update me on what's going on in Star City, but it's not the same as it used to be. I haven't even seen him with my own eyes in three years, not since I came back."

Lois pressed her hands gently over the creases in Clark's shirt. "You probably won't be able to change that anytime soon, Clark. You know why Oliver is so distant."

Clark nodded. _Chloe_. She was the reason, the reason for so much that has happened. No matter what good thing happened in his life, Clark could never forget the girl he had once loved. He still carried the guilt of her death with him, and even though he had told Lois this after explaining about Chloe's powers, he just couldn't seem to get rid of it.

"I don't know why Chloe's death drove you two apart, but it did. That will never change until you do something, Clark." 

Lois was right, much as he loathed to admit it. Clark looked at her and smiled. "I think I am going to go for a little flight out to Star City. I just want to make sure everything is alright."

"What about dinner? You promised to take me out."

Clark rolled his eyes. "Come with me if you want, and we can go to dinner in Star City."

Lois smiled, happy to have gotten her way, and then she let Clark lift her and they flew out the window. Lois loved flying with him; it always made her feel so alive.

Soon they were in Star City and Clark touched down at Queen Manor. Lois smiled at him and smoothed her skirt and her wind tousled hair. They then went hand in hand up to the door to knock.

Stevens opened the door. "Mr. Kent, Ms. Lane, come in please." He ushered them into the foyer and then looked at them in confusion. "Was Master Queen expecting you?"

Clark shook his head. "No, we were just, uh, in the neighborhood and we didn't want to leave without seeing Ollie."

Stevens nodded. "Well, I just spoke to his chauffeur and they will be home at any moment."

"They?" Lois asked, but Stevens had already left the foyer. "Geez, we don't even get to go wait in one of the parlors?"  
Clark smiled. "Ollie probably has some rule about unannounced guests."

"Whatever," Lois said with a grunt.

At that moment they heard the sound of a door slamming, and laughter that was drawing nearer to them. The front door flew open, and then there stood Oliver being pulled inside by an attractive brunette. They were smiling and laughing when suddenly the girl stopped in her tracks and looked straight at Clark.

Lois inched into Clark staring in shock at the woman who was holding Oliver Queen's hand. 

"Chloe?" They both said at the same time.

* * *

Both Oliver and Chloe stood there silently, not moving. Lois looked at her cousin and all the changes in her. Aside from her brown hair and contacts, she looked exactly the same as she had the day she died. Lois felt herself beginning to tremble. 

"Chloe, is that you?"

Chloe finally spoke. "Yes, Lois. It's me." She didn't move though, she just stared at her cousin.

Lois was amazed by her lack of an enthusiastic greeting. And then she felt herself begin to get mad. "What the hell is this? Do you have any idea of the hell that I went through? What Clark and I both went through over the past five years? And you were here the entire time shaking up with Oliver Queen?"

Chloe said nothing; she merely held Oliver's hand tighter.

Clark had been silent until now. He had not spoken, he merely looked at Chloe with a look of betrayal and hurt. 

Finally, Chloe couldn't take it any more and snapped, "Don't look at me like that Clark. You have no right to be acting so betrayed."

Clark shook his head. "How could you be so selfish, Chloe? We all missed you, and we mourned you. And you!" He began to yell, shifting his attention to Ollie. "How could you let me continue to carry the guilt of causing Chloe's death when she was alive?"

"Because she wasn't alive," Oliver said quietly.

Chloe looked up into Ollie's face and squeezed his hand. She could take it from there. "I have been dead for the past five years, Clark."

Clark and Lois both looked at her in surprise. "What?" Lois asked in shock. 

"I only just woke up a month ago," Chloe said. "I was going to tell you both, I really was but…I didn't want to interfere with your lives. But I wasn't playing either of you. Until recently, I was very much dead."

Lois looked at Ollie in shock. "How the hell did this happen?"

Ollie closed the heavy front door, and led them all into the morning room. He was still holding Chloe's hand and led her to the far side of the room. "Chloe was interred on the back of my property. You knew this, Clark. What you didn't know was that I wired her coffin to detect any movement and a heartbeat. I was never satisfied that Chloe was really dead, and I thought it was worth it to be safe rather than sorry."

Chloe smiled at Oliver, and both Clark and Lois were surprised by the intimacy of her glance. Oliver continued his story, "Well, anyway, about a month ago the alarms went off and I went and opened the coffin and Chloe was alive."

"My God," Lois said. "You were dead for five whole years." She then really looked at Chloe's face. "You still looked like you are twenty-one."

"Well," Chloe said quietly. "I still am. No time passed for me. One minute I was in that alley and then the next minute I was here in Star City…five years later."

Lois began to look uneasy at that moment. "Uh, look Chloe there is something that you should know—"

"About you and Clark?" Chloe cut in. "Yeah, thanks, I already got the memo."

Lois had the grace to look somewhat guilty. "Look, I want you to know that nothing happened until after—"

"Lois," Chloe said. "I don't really want to hear it, okay? It doesn't really matter anymore."

Clark had been staring at her steadily and when she said that, his eyes filled with hurt. He could hardly believe that Chloe was in front of him, standing there and talking. It may not have been five years for her, but she was definitely different. There was something about the way that she carried herself that was different than the Chloe that he had known. She seemed more at peace with herself as well. 

All of Lois's anger had seemed to fade as she crossed the room and gave her cousin a hug. Chloe stood stiffly in her arms, not moving, but allowing Lois to hold her. "I have missed you so much, coz," Lois whispered into her ear. "But now you're here."

Chloe pulled away, but smiled at her cousin to make it not seem like she was rejecting her. "Yes, now I am here."

Clark stepped forward and hugged Chloe as well, and as he did Chloe could sense Ollie tensing. He really didn't like Clark touching her.

When Clark pulled back, he took Lois's hand with a smile. "This is great, Chloe. Just think, all three of us working for the Daily Planet. It is going to be just like the old days."

"Umm, what?" Chloe asked. "What makes you think I am going to work at the Daily Planet?"

"It will be great, Chloe," Clark continued as if he hadn't heard her. "Don't worry that you won't get your job back. Perry White is the editor now and he loved you writing."

"Clark, you are getting a little ahead of—"

"And just think," Lois cut in, "All three of us can have adjoining desks in the bullpen. It will be great."

"Whoa guys!" Chloe said, putting her hands up. "You guys are mistaken. I am not going back to Metropolis."

Oliver let out the breath he had been holding in. He had been so afraid that the lure of her old life would be too much for Chloe and that she would leave him behind.

"What do you mean, Chloe?" Lois asked.

"I mean, that it is great you guys want me back and everything, but I can't return to Metropolis."

"Why?" Clark asked.

"Why?" Chloe repeated. "Well, for one, it has been five years. I can't just show up and pretend that nothing has happened. People think I am dead, guys. Chloe Sullivan died five years ago; it would be quite a shock for me to just waltz into the Planet as if nothing had happened."

"We could make up some story Chloe," Lois began.

"And furthermore," Chloe said, as if Lois had not spoken, "I have a life here now. I like it here in Star City, and I have a job at the paper here."

"So what are you saying?" Clark said in disbelief.

"I am saying that I am not going to return with you both. I am staying here."

"Chloe," Lois began slowly. "I know you must have been feeling some sort of abandonment, but that is no reason to make rash decisions."

"They are not rash, Lois. I am happy here." Chloe looked up at Ollie and then suddenly Lois understood.

"Oh," she said. "I get it now."

Clark didn't though. "You get what, Lois? Chloe, why are you being so stubborn?"

"Clark, enough," Oliver said quietly. "Chloe has made her decision and you need to lay off."

Clark was still looking confused when he noticed their joined hands. He then looked at Oliver's face and suddenly he understood everything. He understood why Oliver had been so distant, why he had insisted in keeping Chloe with him here at Queen Manor, and why he had never given up hope. He had always loved her.

"Always?" Clark asked Ollie.

Ollie needed no clarification. He understood what Clark wanted to know. He merely nodded and said, "Always."

* * *

_A/N: So what did you think? Review!_


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